Spark extinguisher



Feb. 19, 1935. c, a, BROSTROM 1,991,445

S'PARK EXT I NGU I SHER Original Filed Dec. 24, 1931 Patented Feb. 19, 1935 UNITED f STATES SPARK 'EXTTNGUISHER Charles G. Brostrom, Lynn, Mass, assignor to United Shoe'Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Original application December 24, 1931, Serial No. 583,031. Divided and this application October 21, 1932', Serial No. 638,934 I 2 Claims. (01, 51-272) This invention relates to grinding machines, and more especially to' means for extinguishing the sparks and collecting the particles that fly from the abrading members of such machines.

The'present application is a division of my oopending application Serial No. 583,031, filedDecember 24, 1931, in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown and described as'an adjunct to .a shoe-trimming machine of the band-knife type.

In some localities fire-prevention regulations require a suitable safeguard against sparks from grinding machines in the vicinity of highly inflammable substances such as pyroxylin cement which is now used in many shoe factories to connect parts of shoes in process of manufacture. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide improved means to extinguish sparks that fly from an abrading wheel. Another object is to provide improved means to collect dust and particles that fly from such a wheel, to the end that they may not'beoome lodged on or in other parts of machinery or in chips or cuttings that lie on the floor and may contain highly inflammable substances.

In view of the foregoing and in accordance with a feature of the invention, the illustrated embodiment of the invention is provided with a pad of absorbent material arranged to arrest sparks thrown against it, and means arranged to supply water to the pad. Preferably, and as herein shown, the water for the pad flows, under suitable control or regulation, from a source of supply directly to the pad, a receptacle being provided to collect a surplus quantity of water thus delivered to the pad. Moreover, as shown, a portion of the pad isarrangedto extend into the water-receptacle, to the end that capillary action will supply water from the receptacle to the pad when, for example, the flow of water from the primary source of supply is stopped. As herein illustrated, the water-receptacle is arranged also to collect sparks and other particles that fall from the pad after beingarrested thereby.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a cowl or housing for an abrading wheel, the housing. including a spark-extinguishing device embodying the invention. The plane of this section is indi, cated by line I-I in Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the elements intersected by line II'II of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a front elevation on a smaller scale of the spark-extinguishing device and a reservoir from which water may be supplied thereto,

Consistently-with the showing in my aforesaid copending application, Serial No. 583,031, the spark-extinguishing device isherein illustrated as applied to an organization comprising a bandknife and a rotary driven abrading wheelll arranged to sharpen the cutting edge of the knife. "The abrading wheel is enclosed in a cowl 'orh'ousing'comprising two cooperative hollow sec- 'tions 12and'1 3,the greater part of the abrading wheel being within the section 12 but a segment thereof being within the section 13, the front of which is provided with an opening 14 to receive that segment. The abrading wheel rotates in the direction indicated by an arrow in Fig. 1 in consequence of which sparks and other particles generated by its action on the bandknife 10 are thrown bycentrifugal force through the opening 14.- in the section 13. To extinguish the sparks, or at least some of them, the section 13 is provided with a pad 15 of absorbent material arranged to arrest the products of abrasion as they fly from the abrading wheel, the pad being saturated or at least impregnated with water to effect this result.

As herein shown, the pad 15 is secured to the rear wall of the section 13 by a screw. 16 and is backed or reinforced by a leaf-spring such as a resilient metallic plate 17, preferably made of some non-rusting metal such as brass. The pad 15 and its backing plate 17 are also preferablyv connected in contiguous relation to each other by one or more rivets 18. The pad is moistened with water that may be conducted to it from a reservoir such as the barometric feeder 20included in Fig. 3, a flexible rubber tube 21 forming a connection through which the water may flow by gravity, and a valve 22 being provided to regulate or stop the flow. The delivery end of the tube 21 is connected to a nipple 23tha't extends through the rear wall of the section 13 behind the backing plate 17, the latter being provided with valve 22 is closed.

An adjusting screw 25, accessible outside the cowl, extends through the rear wall of the section 13 and engages the rear face of the backing plate 17 to adjust the pad 15 so that it will almost touch the periphery of the abrading wheel 11 without quite doing so. The resilience of the backing plate 17 maintains the latter in contact with the adjusting screw.

In practice many of the sparks thrown against the pad 15 will be extinguished immediately, provided the pad is saturated with water, but other sparks may not be extinguished so quickly and will drop from the arresting surface of the pad while still in a state of incandescence. Nevertheless, the invention provides also for extinguishing the latter sparks. To this end the basin or wa-' ter-receptacle 19 is arranged to collect the products of abrasion that fall from the arresting area of the pad.

Preferably, the above-described component parts of the spark-extinguishing device are arranged and connected one to another in such relation as to constitute a detachable unit capable of being manufactured, assembled and sold individually and to be readily mounted while intact in cooperative relation to any abrading .wheel suitably situated to be guarded thereby. To

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:-

1. A device for extinguishing sparks comprising a pad of absorbent material arranged to arrest sparks thrown laterally against it, a conduit arranged to supply water to the pad, a receptacle arranged to collect surplus water supplied to the pad by said conduit and also to collect particles that fall from the spark-arresting surface of the pad, and means by which said elements are maintained in cooperative relations to form a unitary assemblage.

2; A device for extinguishing sparks comprising a cowl member formed to enclose a segment of an abrading wheel and provided with a basin for water, a pad of absorbent material one portion of which is arranged in said basin and another I portion of which is arranged to arrest sparks thrown from the abrading wheel by centrifugal force,- a leaf-spring secured to the rear face of said pad and to said cowl member, within the latter, and an adjusting screw accessible outside said cowl member and extending through a wall thereof into contact with said leaf-spring to ad'- just said other portion of thexpad toward the 'abrading wheel.

CHARLES G. BROSTROM. 

